Should We Be Talking About Money More?

Let’s face it, money is on most people’s minds. If you’re in your 20’s and 30’s, there’s a good chance you’re straddled with student loan debt or credit card debt while also trying to save for a home or pay outrageous child care costs. If you have school-aged kids, you’re probably stressed about college tuition, and if you’re in your 50’s and 60’s, you might be worried about whether you’ve saved enough for retirement.

Whether we like it or not, we’re living at a time in which aquiring income is easy, but aquiring wealth is not. Yet despite its necessity in our lives, people usually refrain from talking about money. However, is this a bad thing? Could talking about money ever benefit us?

About five years ago, a friend casually mentioned to me that his 401(k) was already six figures, and because of that, he wasn’t worried about retirement. I was shocked. This was someone my age, who graduated from college at the same time I did, and yet my own 401(k) was practically nonexistant. Hearing this, it wasn’t so much a feeling of being behind as the feeling that this person was setting himself up for freedom, and I was setting myself up for well, nothing. A lifetime of working. It really made me think, and I’m glad it did.

Although the conversation was fleeting – lasting only about 10 minutes – it completely transformed my outlook on saving. I applied for a higher-paying job and immediately began maxing out my retirement contributions. Now, five years later, I’m on track to retire at 63 and hope to shave a few more years off my working life.

Yet none of this might have happened if I hadn’t had that brief, eye-opening conversation five years ago. Have you ever had a moment like this?